Book of JoBe
by Heart Farmies
Summary: A collection of JosefBeth oneshots. From friendship to relationship to everything in between. Now with slight story!
1. Arrested Development

**The title of the story "Book of Jobe" came from Bacio83 on Moonlight Fans. I'm not that creative. **

**A collection of one shots between Josef/Beth or about Josef/Beth. Anywhere from the snarky conversations that are just bound to happen, to a relationship between the two, conversations about the two, or the two of them teaming up to saving a Mick in distress.**

**---**

**This one, episode 5, where they first meet. Jumps back and forth from Josef's, Beth's and no one's point of view.**

"Josef, Ryder – Meet Beth Turner."

She was pretty, Josef had to admit. The internet did not do her justice. But, she was a human, and ever since what happened in New York, humans, and especially women were only to be food. There was to be no personal connection, lest he fall in love, go through the Turning process, and create another Sarah. It just wasn't something he could live with. The guilt from the failed Turning had eaten away at the part of his heart that would allow him to care for such a _delicate_ creature... By a vamp's standards at least.

But there was no harm in looking, right?

And by looking, he meant appraising.

She looked tasty.

"Beth Turner. Buzzwire. Such a beautiful woman on the internet."

He was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. But there seemed to be something... _Off_ about him. It might have been how nice he was nice dressed for such a casual meeting (_Armani suits? Seriously?_). Or maybe it was the idea that he looked so young... Yet was so powerful.

Or it could be the _slightly_ creepy detail that he was staring at her like she should be, and was going to become, his next meal.

And it was only the fact that she knew Mick would never let anything happen to her that allowed her to stand her ground and take a hold of his hand when it was offered.

"Thank you." There was an awkward silence, as both Josef and Ryder seemed to be sizing her up. "I guess."

Josef looked at Mick with bewilderment in his eyes. Where on _Earth_ did he find her?

"So, are you going to tell me what I'm doing here?"

The man she assumed to be Ryder spoke up softly, "Mick said you had a great voice."

That most definitely threw her off. People said that she looked good, looked great, hot even, but had a great voice? Yeah. That one was new.

"Ryder here," Mick started to push her over towards the computer, "has got a list of all of the incoming calls from the dead escort's website over the last twenty four hours of her life. One of them is probably the killer."

Meeting with strangers has never been one of Beth's main passions. Granted, she loved her work, and she often had to set up meetings of this sort, but that doesn't mean that she liked it, at all. No, her idea of fun was most definitely not being leered at from the moment she arrived by two strange men, and having the one person that she did know tell them she had a great voice.

And it didn't help to unease her fears that while Mick was telling her everything, that Josef was still stalking her with his eyes. It was at that moment that she realized he was a vampire. And while that made everything make a lot more sense, it set her nerves a bit higher, because Josef really was looking at her like she was his next meal.

"So you want me to call the numbers?"

Josef wanted to smile at that. "Quick study." He quipped. Pretty, tasty, somewhat intelligent. Not a bad combination in his book.

"And what, talk to them?"

"If we're lucky, yeah."

Beth laughed uneasily, "What am I supposed to say? I've never spoken to a serial killer before."

But at that, he had to smile. This was just to priceless to pass up. "Well you know, be polite. Please, thank you."

Ryder jumped back in "Do whatever escorts do."

Oh joy. She had hoped that she could go through life without ever having to be an escort. Or act like one, at any rate.

"Okay." Beth took off her jacket, "Whatever you want."

Josef turned his head towards her in disbelief. He really did not expect this of the human, agreeing to it so easily. She was proving to be very surprising.

The first phone call Beth thought she had botched. None of the guys seemed to agree with her, however.

Hoo boy. "Very impressive." Josef said in mild discomfort. Maybe the human was _too_ surprising.

"Hot. Very, very hot."

Getting the hang of what she was supposed to be doing, Beth smirked, this could be fun.


	2. Sleeping Beauty

**Thank you for all the kind reviews, I'm very glad you all enjoyed it. Hope that yall like this one just as much.**

**I own nothing pertaining to the show Moonlight, actors, places, or mentioned story lines. Nor do I own The Sopranos. Or The Godfather. Basically anything that you recognize... Yeah, it's not mine. **

**At the moment, I seem to be writing post, current, and pre parts for the episodes. Meh. My muse is feeling a little creativity dead, and it wants to. So, nyeh :P **

**A few scenes from 1x10 "Sleeping Beauty" May I just say that I loved this episode?**

**Almost all from Beth's POV. Yeah, and Beth may seem a bit OOC. There's some expletives that she throws out about the MickCoraline situation, and she may seem a little... Pissed off in some areas, and emotional in others.**

**Made a mistake in the last chapter. The scene was from 1x06 "Arrested Devolpment." Not that it makes much difference, but, yeah. It was wrong. And I felt the need to correct it. :)**

**---**

THE trip to the hospital might not have been the best idea, in retrospect, if Beth's mood was any indication. She still believed she did the right thing, and didn't regret stabbing Coraline for one second. If Coraline died, she'd feel bad for Mick having to face the reality that he was never going to become mortal again. Because if Josef wasn't able to find a cure, then there was no way Mick could. He didn't have the money, the connections, or the experience that the older vampire had attained.

Besides, it was his fault for not telling her that Coraline had found a "cure" when she first got there. And now he was just acting all fussy about it. He knew that she was the one who had kidnapped Beth! He knew that she had taken her from her family and was going to turn her to fulfill the sick family fantasy of hers! He fucking knew EVERYTHING, and yet allowed her to ruin her life again!

And the icing on the cake? So what if she's a crazy bitch bent on stalking her and destroying her life? And so what if he killed her? Or at least he tried to. Pretty sure he's still in love with her.

Whatever. Fuck him.

With her mood already going to hell, it was getting late, and Beth was so close to saying 'Screw this piece, I'm going home' but unfortunately, she was a reporter, and leaving would be risking her rep with her boss.

She wouldn't risk her reputation for anything. Not for Mick, not for Coraline, not for Josh and his hissy fits.

And most definitely not for sleep.

Beth's sour mood only seemed to intensify when she spied Maureen entering the room, with a smile like that cat that ate the canary. Minutes into their conversation, it turned sympathetic as she asked, "Oh yeah, Morgan. How's she doing?"

A brief look of annoyance flashed over her face but was covered up by a mask of concern.

"She's in pretty bad shape."

"Does anyone know how she hurt herself?"

That was a loaded question if Beth had ever heard one. She was stabbed, that part was easy enough to answer, but to be quite frank, even though it was herself, Beth Turner of Buzzwire who had stabbed her, she was going to place all of the blame on Mick for being a complete idiot and Coraline being... Coraline. It was all her fault. Really.

"No she... She's still unconscious." That's it. Act concerned. Look upset. And then everything will go away.

"Cheer up. I've got something to take your mind off Morgan."

There you have it!

"Explosion in a downtown office building. Took out the top floor."

Beth looked warily at the picture. That building looked eerily familiar. "Terrorists?" If it was terrorists, she could most definitely run with this story and have some fun with it. No personal connection to worry about.

"No."

Damn. Knowing the way that fate had started treating her lately, someone she knew had to have been taken out. And chances are, it was going to be a vampire. Meaning she would see Mick again. Damn her stupid bad luck.

"Apparently, the target was this big – shot hedge fund trader."

Maureen typed on the keyboard swiftly, and brought up a image that made her blood want to curdle.

"Oh my god. That's Josef Kostan."

No. No, no, no. Not it's not. It can't be. Anyone. _Anyone_ but him!

"He's a friend of Mick's."

And at the moment, the person that she needed the most. The only one who could have actually helped her with the whole Mick and Coraline situation.

"Okay, I take it back. _This_ is why I love you."

"Was he there?" Please say no. Please say no.

Apologetic smile. "'Fraid so." Another nod from Maureen, "No survivors."

Oh dear god no. Josef CAN'T be dead. He can't leave her like this, not now! Not when she needs him to make sure that Mick isn't going to come after her for hurting Coraline. Not when she needed him so desperately.

Maureen awkwardly slid her hand across Beth's back, "Have a cameraman meet you down there. I want to know the who, what, and why."

Beth was taken aback. There was no way that she could cover this story! Not when she had just lost one of her friends.

"I can't cover this story. This guy's a really good friend of Mick's." And mine. A close friend of mine.

But despite her feeble protests, Maureen seemed to find the silver lining for Buzzwire. "Great!"

How on _earth_ can this be great? Josef is DEAD for heaven's sake!

"Use that to show some vulnerability. Tracking says that women 18 – 34 find you a little harsh."

With that, Beth was left alone, and for the first time, deciding that she hated what her job entailed.

A single tear rolled down her face. She had never had to cover something where someone she had known _was_ the story, and she never wanted to ever again.

FOR Beth, it was one thing to look at the picture of the blown up building, and another to see it in person. It really brought home the point that Josef was dead. He was actually gone.

The whole top floor was destroyed. No one could have survived it. All that was left after the explosion were the majorly charred walls and debris strewn around from the blast.

Much to her chagrin, Mick was there, doing his vamp 'smell into the past' thing, or whatever he called it. "It was poker night. I was supposed to be there."

"I'm so sorry." And she was. She was honestly sorry. Even if she was pissed off at the man, she felt horrible at the fact that his best friend, his supposed to be immortal best friend, had just been blown up.

"Yeah. Me too."

"Who could have done this? I mean they used fire, they must have known he was a vampire."

That was a chilling thought to her. If this guy knew about vampires, that means that others could as well, and that meant that somehow or another, someone might take notice to the fact that her friends were vampires, and leap to the conclusion that she was a vampire, too. Being beheaded or being burned alive were not the ways that she had planned to go.

"Josef had enemies."

No surprise there.

"But this? Who could hate him this much?"

Josef at times wasn't the most likeable guy you'd ever meet, but that was no reason to go and kill him. By that logic, Josh, Mick, Maureen, Marissa, all of them should be dead.

Beth breathed in and out slowly. "Yeah." A long silence ensued before being broken by Mick.

"You brought your cameraman?" Mick looked pissed. "That's why you're here?" More than pissed. "You're on a story?"

"Look. Maureen sent me."

"Beth..." Mick looked defeated, like he couldn't bring himself to fight with her. "Just go away."

In her defense, she didn't want to bring the camera inside. She had told him to wait outside the office, she'd go in and look around, then come back out to do the report. But the cameraman shook his head, and said, "No way." Again. Not her fault.

"Listen, they were gonna send someone here to cover this story. Wouldn't you rather it was me?"

"My friend just died."

Mine too.

"I don't really want to talk to you right now."

Neither do I.

"No, actually, you stay and get your story. You do your job, I'll do mine."

Fine.

IT was easier said than done though, not talking to Mick. Try as she might, she couldn't help but stray to him. Whether it was for an apology, or for someone who knew Josef and she could somehow try to grieve with, she wasn't sure. Either way, she found herself sprawled outside his door, waiting for him to return.

"Hey."

"Hey."

The talk that commenced between the two helped Beth immensely. She wasn't the only one who wasn't sure how to mourn him, and he felt just as bad about the way he acted at the office building. There was no mention of what transpired at the hospital, however, and Beth was grateful for it. Just once she wanted to have a conversation that didn't make her feel like total crap.

"I need a drink."

She echoed his sentiments in a laugh, "Yeah, me too."

But nothing, NOTHING, could have prepared her for what she saw when she walked through the door.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me found out who killed me?"

Josef?

JOSEF smirked lightly, "In the flesh."

"But... How?" Mick asked, wonder filling his eyes.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Josef was still buttoning the shirt up as he stood and walked over to the duo. "And if you could ever find out, I'd be very grateful." He stared directly at Beth, "Very grateful."

Not caring anymore that Mick was in the room, Beth choked back a sob and threw her arms around her friend who immediately stiffened at her touch. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" She laughed, "I'm hugging you." Dolt.

"I can see that." At this point, Josef had slipped his arms around her and was lightly patting her on the back, still feeling fully uncomfortable. This was not a position he found himself in often. "Why?"

Beth scrunched her face up, and drew back, "Because I'm glad you're alive? Because I cried when I found out you were dead? Because I consider you a friend, and it upsets me when my friends get hurt? Take your pick."

Josef and Mick shared a chuckle at her as they shook hands. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Me, too." Josef said with a laugh, "Me, too."

Beth, on the outskirts of the conversation, merely nodded and bit her lip. She still wasn't pleased with this. Josef was still in danger. If the person responsible found out he was alive, then... Oh god. That wouldn't end well.

"Oh my little mortal." Josef said, as if he could read her thoughts, "Please do not worry for me. I'll be fine."

Beth nodded and blushed when he put his arm around her to lead her over to the couch, "Have a seat here, I'll be right back." All Mick could do was scowl. He wasn't a fan of his best friend and his human friend getting along so well. "Something wrong, Mick?"

He shook his head, "No. Nothing." He was getting paranoid, that's all. Besides, he's angry at Beth right now, and doesn't care what she does. "I have video surveillance from your building, we can take a look at it now if you want to."

Primly sitting on the armrest nearest Beth, he angled his body slightly towards hers, in a seemingly protective move, as if he knew the anger Mick was holding inside. Following it with a smirk he agreed. "Nothing I'd rather do."

SEVERAL minutes later, Josef was getting impatient. He wanted to find out who this bastard was, and then... Well, it's an eye for an eye in this case.

"Recognize that guy?"

"No, I've never seen him before." Josef looked up from the screen to where Mick was seated, "Is he a vampire?"

"No. He showed up as human on your infrareds."

"Does he know Josef's a vampire?"

Wow. That wasn't blunt at all. That was something she should probably work on.

"Well, he did use fire."

Shit. That's not good. This guy got through Josef's insane security system with two bombs undetected, even though his heat signature showed up on the infrareds. Paranoia doesn't seem to help in all cases.

She lowered her voice and softly asked "The other people he killed, your friends, were they vampires, too?"

That was a little less blunt, right? Or at least it's a start.

Josef nodded sadly several times, "Well, remind me to donate a little something to charity in their name."

More than anything, Beth wanted to reach out and grab his hand. Her heart went out to him, seeing his face so broken. At least until he stood up and his voice turned cynical.

"Oh wait. I can't. I have no money. I have no office, I have no anything. Because some janitor decided to whack me in a very public and very hard to explain why I'm still alive kind of way. So everyone thinks I'm dead."

Beth watched on in interest. He would have to plan this one out carefully if he didn't want people to question how the hell he survived something that should so easily have killed him.

"Yeah, and it has to stay that way. This janitor of yours is a professional assassin with access to military grade weaponry. Somebody hired him. And you're only going to be safe so long as he thinks he's succeeded."

This was like a ping – pong match. Point Mick.

"So find him, and whack him. So I can carry on my business."

Beth laughed internally. This was her own private showing of The Sopranos. Or The Godfather with Josef playing Don Corleone.

Whilst imagining Josef saying 'I'll make him an offer he can't refuse,' the real Josef and Mick were having a discussion over Ryder, and him hacking the military.

"He can't hack the military? Mick asked sarcastically.

"Oh, he can. He did. That's why he's on a sabbatical in South America right now."

Nice. Now would be a good time to enter the conversation.

Feeling somewhat like a grade – schooler, she raised her hand "I know somebody. Sam. Does some computer work at Buzzwire."

"Okay, let's go." Mick responded.

She grabbed her purse and smiled a goodbye to Josef while Mick left him with some final instructions. Turns out she and Mick were on the same page for something.

"You – You stay. You do not leave this apartment."

NEW YORK was like LA on speed. It was fast, exciting, and Beth would have loved to spend hours wandering around. Not shopping, or going to see the shows (although those were up in the top few spots), but just watching the people. The atmosphere here was so different than what she was used to. The people were no nonsense, and she liked it. It seemed to be a place where she could let her true personality shine, and she didn't want to let go of that thought.

But alas, she was here with Mick on a mission. Stop Josef from killing someone.

But no, apparently his name is not Josef Konstantin. Apparently it was Charles Fitzgerald. That was a surprise to both her and Mick. Well, it wasn't as much of a shock to her as it was to him. He had a whole other life that Mick knew nothing about. It was obvious that since he was about 400 years old that he'd have many different personas, Josef Konstantins can't live forever, but to keep it a secret wasn't what he did. Something was different.

The address that Sam gave her lad them to a large, out of the way building. Ringing the doorbell, an old black woman answered. The name Josef was not familiar to her, but when 'Charles' was mentioned, the vampire quietly walked up behind her and said "it's okay Polly, you can let him in."

He dazzled a smile at Beth, and looked sheepishly at Mick. "You can run, but you can't hide."

"Not from me." Mick stared back, "Charles."

"So, we had a pretty interesting talk with John Whitley. You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"Mick," Josef takes a deep breath as he prepares to reveal the secret he has not shared anyone in years, "Beth – This is Sarah. Sarah Whitley."

To say that Beth was shocked would be an understatement. She had known that Josef was against Turning a human, but she always had thought it was because he seemed a commitment – phobe, not because somewhere along the line, a Turning process can go wonky.

"You know, it took me over 350 years to find her, and only a year to lose her – forever." It's obvious at this point that Josef wants to cry, and again, Beth's heart breaks for him.

"Josef, this, all this, it's not your fault."

"I know, but it is. I'm the one who did this to her."

Knowing he's seconds away from tears, Beth steers the conversation away from Josef trying to Turn her, to Sarah and how kind he's been with her. "You've been looking after her ever since."

While in the midst of Josef's breakdown, the window overlooking the city shatters as someone comes crashing through.

Mick throws Beth to the ground and tells her to stay there while Josef makes a move, whether to protect Sarah or merely get the hell out of dodge.

"DIE VAMPIRE!" Martaan screams.

Perplexed as to how Josef was shot multiple times in the back, and then staked in the heart Martaan muttered," Why won't you die?"

"It doesn't always work like that." Mick spoke up from behind the ex – special ops. A hand calmly grabs the fist that was flying towards him, and Martaan soon comes to the realization that this was most definitely not a fair fight.

Beth had to fight every single instinct of hers NOT to go over and try to get Josef out of harms way. Taking the stake out would fix everything, but the fight was too close to him, and she would be trampled if she got any closer. All she could do now was watch, and pray that Josef would be okay.

The fight was over before it had begun, though. A mortal is no match for a vampire.

But there was still the slight problem of Josef being paralyzed. Mick pulled the stake out carefully and set it aside, careful not to get his blood everywhere.

Easy enough.

"Thanks."

Now devoid of a shirt, Josef sat flinching everytime that Mick tried to dig out the bullet.

"Will you hold still? I'm trying to get the second bullet out. You know, for a 400 year old vampire you sure have a low threshold for pain."

"Well giving is different than receiving." He grunted in pain, but when the bullet was removed, and he had his glass of blood, he knew he was going to be eternally grateful to Mick and his mortal friend... Beth. She has a name.

"Are you okay?" Concern flooded her voice.

He smiles gently, a soft spot is being formed for this human, "I will be." He moves closer, shifting right up to her side, "That bastard staked me." he said incredulously.

Josef near death experiences. Past five days: 2. Past 400 years: 7.

Although she laughed lightly at that, she still couldn't shake the fact that he had been staked, and he could have died.

Technically, he was still dead.

"Are you coming back to LA with us?"

Josef bowed his head in concentration, but ended up turning to Beth with an apologetic smile. "I'm gonna stay here a few more days."

She rubbed her hand up and down Josef's arm and handed him Sarah's journal. "You should have this."

Before noticing the journal, he watched her in shock and bewilderment – He had basically killed another human being, and yet here she was, not caring at all about that, only if he was going to be okay. Even though she never figured out how exactly he survived, he was still very, very grateful for her.

"She really loved you."

And I can see why.

Mick looked unhappy with the developing friendship. He knew that Josef would never intentionally try to hurt him – provided it wasn't out of revenge. All bets were off then – but something like this, he knew Josef would fight it. But Beth wouldn't. Mick had Coraline, or rather Coraline had Mick, and Beth knew it. There was no way that they would be able to work it out. Either he'd cut off all relations with Beth or he'd cut off all relations with Coraline.

Neither were acceptable.

But he'd cross that bridge later. Now was time to head home. Mick touched her arm, and with a final smile at Josef, she left him looking at the diary with guilt in his eyes.

SEVERAL days later, back in LA, Beth found herself again sitting on the floor outside of an apartment. There was no way that any of her girlfriends would understand what she was going through, and it seemed that two of the men in her life weren't too happy with her, if not having her phone calls returned was any indication.

But she didn't have the desire to make peace with either of them at the moment. They'd just have to be annoyed for a little while longer. She had things that she had to take care of.

"Beth?" A voice floated from her left, "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, well..." Beth stuttered. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I just felt like I had to come and talk to you."

Josef rolled his eyes, "Let's continue this conversation inside." He extended a hand out to her and pulled her up.

"So," he started, after getting Beth settled on a couch, "What going on?"

Beth knew why she was here, but was having troubles getting it out without making her sound crazy, "I just, I just wanted to talk to you."

Yeah, that wasn't stalkerish at all. Waiting outside the door, I just wanted to talk to you...

"Alright. About what?" He probed.

Bluntness. Bluntness is key.

"About Sarah."

Josef turned his head away sharply, "I don't really want to talk about that, Beth."

Too bad. We're going to.

"Okay, well I guess it's not really about Sarah, but what is happening to you because of her." Beth steeled herself for the conversation to come. This was not going to be a fun exchange.

"All I want to know, Josef, is why you're closing yourself off. I want to be a friend, I really do, but... You've just closed your heart. And I don't know what to do. I don't want to give up on having a friendship with you, because I like you Josef, I really, really like you and I get the feeling that, to a certain extent, you don't mind being around me.

He stood up in protest, "I have not done anything of the sort."

"Of course you haven't." Beth said sarcastically. "I mean, the loads of friends who aren't after your money would so agree with you."

Josef scowled, but inwardly agreed. He didn't have many friends who weren't out for the money. He stayed silent, waiting for what was next.

"But if you ever come to your senses, I'll be there. You can count on it."

Josef was quiet and Beth stood up, "Well. Good talk."

She started to leave, but Josef stopped her with a hand on her wrist. Next thing she knew, she was being crushed on his chest, his head buried in her hair. Josef was willingly showing her an emotion that she had never seen on him before – despair.

Only a select few men had ever cried openly in front of her, and it blew her away that this man, Josef Konstantin, would ever be one of the ones to do it.

After what seemed like seconds to her, but in reality was at least ten minutes, Josef had calmed down enough to where he was able to control his emotions again.

He smirked, but the effect was lost with the red rimmed eyes and blotchy cheeks, "Beth – we never speak of this again. Okay?"

She laughed and nodded, "I won't tell anyone."

He kissed her chastely on the cheek, and whispered "Thank you," in her ear.

**---**

**Holy crap that was long! Sorry if it seemed somewhat drawn out, but Sleeping Beauty was the episode that made JosefBeth my OTP. I figured it deserved a nice long piece. Going to start working on a Christmas/new years piece next. Look for that in a few days.**

**Happy holidays!**


	3. Christmas

**So I must say that last chapter was not my best work. I feel it was a crappy chapter, and it didn't do the episode any justice, but, hey! That's how the cookie crumbled.**

**This one is a little more fun, because who doesn't love a good Christmas fic? This fic is pure, total and complete fluff. I don't like holiday angst. **

**Don't own anything pertaining to Moonlight, or anything you recognize. And I most definitely do not own Christmas.**

**Didn't know what Maureen's last name is. I just created one. **

**---**

CHRISTMAS time for Josef was nothing special. If anything, he wasn't a fan of it. Every place was closed, and all of his human employees (the few he had), and the occasional vamp employee who still had living relatives, wanted to go home, effectively shutting down his business.

So he would play the Scrooge, go 'bah humbug' but let them leave anyways. He wasn't that cold. He knew how important it was to some people for them to be with their friends and families during the holidays. He just rarely had any friends who would want to spend it with him. Sad thought, but true nonetheless. For the past fifty odd years, he's refused to partake in any festivities.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he had no reason to.

Until a little human bullied her way into his life, and was making him reevaluate his very existence.

And currently that same human was sitting at his bar, wearing the most ridiculous piece of clothing he'd seen in his 400 years of life.

"What in the _world_ are you supposed to be, Beth?"

Beth raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like? I'm an elf." She shook her head to jingle the bells, and wiggled her feet for the same effect. "Duh."

"Of course you are. Why are you an elf?"

Beth's face colored, and she bowed her head to mutter something.

"What was that?"

"Um..." Beth looked up sheepishly, "There's a Christmas party that Buzzwire is holding, and there are some creepy guys there who keep hitting on me, and I really don't want to go alone because I know that they'd try to make a move on me..."

"And you want me to go with you?"

She gave him a puppy dog – eyed look, "Please?"

"What about Josh? You know, your boyfriend?" Josef inquired, "Or how about going with Mick? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Beth shook her head vehemently, "Josh has been in D.C. for the past few weeks, and I don't know how much longer he's going to be there. And Mick? Well, Mick and I haven't been getting along to well lately. Me stabbing his ex – wife and everything, it kinda puts a damper on a friendship." She shrugged, "So that leaves you."

Josef frowned, "Glad to see how high I am on your list of men."

Trying to salvage the situation, Beth blurted, "Actually, I was going to ask you to go with me even if Mick wasn't obsessing over Coraline. I would have gone with Josh if he was here, but he isn't, so I ruled him out as a choice from the beginning. Besides, things are rough between him and I at the moment, and frankly, I don't know if I would have wanted to go with him. So in reality, you were my first preference to go with." She smiled brightly, "Please?"

Josef was planning on saying yes from the moment she had asked, but watching her stutter and try to convince him to go was just too much fun to pass up.

He sighed dramatically, "Fine. But you owe me."

Beth clapped her hands, causing the bells on her hat and feet to again jingle, "Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped off the stool and grabbed her bag, "Now we just need to make a stop at my apartment to get you dressed appropriately and we can head out!"

"I thought it was a Christmas party." She nodded. "Then how I am not dressed correctly? I have on a suit, nice shoes, this is Christmas party attire. What else do you want?"

"Yes, it's technically Christmas party attire... But it's not fully complete." Beth grinned, "You can keep the suit and shoes. You're just missing a few elements, and I'm almost positive that you don't keep them here."

With a look of distrust in his eyes, Josef allowed Beth to lead him to the door.

"I'M going to regret this, aren't I?" Josef asked while grimacing at himself in the hallway mirror. "This is not going to be a pleasant experience."

"For you, maybe." Beth said, poking her head out of her closet, "For me, this is going to be oodles of fun!" She gave a little squeal of happiness, "Found it!" and emerged with a few red and white fluffy items.

Josef recoiled, "No. No way will I wear those."

Beth pouted, "Aw... Please? You just have to wear the hat, that's all. I won't make you wear the matching coat, pants and boots. Just the hat."

She wiggled the hat in front of his face, "Ho, ho, ho!"

"Just the hat?" Josef peered at it disdainfully.

Beth plopped it on his head, "Yep. Just the hat."

Josef shook his head, and quietly accepted his fate. He was going to the Buzzwire Christmas party as Santa, and there was nothing that could get him out of it.

At least the hat didn't have bells on it. He would have drawn the line there and called it quits.

Maybe not. The soft spot for the human was growing larger and larger, and he probably would have put on the entire suit if she asked him to.

Okay, that was a blatant lie. He wouldn't do that no matter what she said, but the hat didn't look horrible and it seemed to appease her.

"What time is the party?"

Beth checked her watch, "In about forty minutes." She again pushed him to the door, "We should probably leave now. Beat the traffic."

"I'm driving." He left no room for argument. No one but him, or his drivers, would touch his cars.

"You're driving."

BUZZWIRE was built for a party, it seemed. There was festive music, people dancing, and more decorations in one place than Josef had seen in a long time.

The punch bowls were filled with eggnog, which Beth made sure to tell Josef to stay away from, lest it be spiked again. They had yet to figure out who had poured an entire bottle of Jack Daniels and another of Jose Cuervo into it at the 2006 party.

But with the night that he was facing, surrounded completely by these mortals he was not allowed to feed on, a drink sounded pretty damned good.

Clutching onto Josef's arm, Beth slowly approached three tall, lanky men who seemed to know she was there using their "Beth-radar." She visibly shuddered.

"Beth, it's such a pleasure to see you." One of them spoke. "You look elf-tastic."

The others looked to nervous to say anything, so they nodded their assent and stared on. Beth felt uncomfortable in her elf outfit and nudged Josef, hinting she wanted to leave.

He didn't seem to get the hint. Instead, he unconsciously drew her closer to his side, and introduced himself. "Josef Kostan. Beth's date. It's nice to meet you...?"

The three men's faces visibly fell, they had obviously hoped that she had come alone. "I'm Nick O'Halloren," the first spoke up, "This is Tyler Jenson." He gestured to the boy with shaggy blonde hair and then pointed to the stout, brown haired guy, "And this is Charles Nickels." The other two simply nodded a hello.

"Well, Nick, Tyler, Charles," Josef said, addressing each of them, "It was nice to meet you, but Beth has things she wanted to show me and we must be leaving now."

He ushered Beth away, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Those the creepy guys you were telling me about?"

She slightly nodded, "Yeah. They work in IT, and everytime I go back there, I feel like I'm going to be attacked. It's just the way that they look at me, you know?" Giving one final shutter, Beth perked up, "So, there are things that I supposedly want to show you?"

"Yep." Josef grinned, "I want to know Buzzwire in and out. So, we need to go places, and we need to meet people. Or I need to meet people. And have you take me places."

Beth looked up at his smiling face, it was obvious he was having fun here. "Alright, we'll start with my boss, Maureen."

"MO!" Beth yelled, trying to catch her boss' attention.

Josef laughed, "You don't need to be so loud."

But it seemed to work, and Maureen glided up to them, "Beth! Merry Christmas!"

"You too." Beth said happily. "Um, Maureen, this is my friend Josef Kostan. Josef – this is Maureen Johnson."

"It's nice to meet you." Josef said politely.

Maureen quirked an eyebrow and stared at him intensely, "Kostan... Kostan... Where have I heard that before?" She shook her head, "For some reason that name sounds very, very familiar. Do I know you?"

Josef shook his head, "No, but my building was destroyed in the explosion a month or so ago." He said disdainfully. That was still a painful memory. "You might be familiar with that."

"Oh, of course! I sent Beth here out on that story. Since I learned that you lived, I've been wondering, how the _hell_ did you survive that?" She blurted.

Josef's eyes went wide, starting to look like a trapped animal, "It's a long, very tedious story that I'd rather not go into if you don't mind."

"Of course, of course." Maureen flustered, "Forget I asked."

He smiled lightly, "Don't worry about it."

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Maureen. Merry Christmas!" Beth said lightly.

As Beth grabbed his arm to pull him away, he threw over his shoulder, "Merry Christmas!"

"Well, she seems nice."

"Yeah, she is." Beth said, "Except when she's giving you a deadline. She wants it then, no questions asked."

"Cutthroat boss?" Josef joked.

"You know it." Slowing to a stop, Bet reached out to tap a young girl's shoulder. "Ally?"

The blonde jumped up. "Beth!" Ally kissed her on the cheek as they embraced. Josef watched on in interest. "It's been too long!"

"It was only three weeks."

"Yeah, well, I missed you. So it seemed longer." She stuck her tongue out at Beth, "So take that."

Beth giggled. "How was the vacation?"

Ally sighed dreamily, "Mm... Australia was so wonderful. It was so beautiful, and fun, and oh my word, the men there? Wow, don't get me started!" Her face turned sad, "I wish you could have gone."

"Me, too. But my mother... And the money..." Beth shook her head, "Not going to think about it. It's Christmas time!"

Ally nodded in agreement, "Yes it is, and merry Christmas, Beth!" She turned her attention to Josef, "Well, well, well... Speaking of men... Who's this?"

"Oh! Wow, I'm so rude! Josef, this is Allyson Davis, she's one of the camera crew here. Ally, this is my good friend Josef Kostan."

Ally looked him up and down, "It's nice to meet you." She purred.

Josef shifted uncomfortably, "You as well, Ms. Davis."

Ally slyly nodded approvingly to Beth, who just laughed and said, "It was great talking to you again. Call me sometime – we'll do lunch!" After winking at Josef, she turned her back and walked towards the eggnog.

"Well." Josef chuckled, "She looks like an experience."

"No kidding."

Before the two of them could continue on their tour, two hands grabbed their shoulders, keeping them in place. "What the hell, man?" Beth exclaimed. "Get your hand off of me!"

Turning, she realized it to be Sam, "Oh... Sorry Sam."

The computer whiz waved her hand "Whatever. It's cool." Taking initiative, Sam stuck out her hand to Josef, who took it gingerly, "Sam Wilkins. The only semi – sane computer tech around. And you are?"

"Josef. Josef Kostan."

"Well, Josef, Beth," She nodded to each, "I'm afraid I can't let you leave the area at the moment."

Beth looked at her sharply, "And why not?"

Sam merely pointed up. "Huh? Would you look at that? Mistletoe." She gently pushed the two closer, "Just a few steps... And perfect!"

Beth looked at Josef uncertainly, "Uh... Josef? We don't have to do this if you don't want to..."

Josef looked at her with an 'are you kidding?' look. "Beth. It's tradition." He pulled her close to him by an arm around her waist. "We never, _never_ break traditions."

Without a passing thought, Josef leaned his head down to capture her lips in a kiss.

Beth gasped into his mouth, and she could feel his smirk, all through the at least ten seconds.

When he finally let her go, Beth had a dazed expression on her face, and Josef was grinning like a maniac. Sam's mouth dropped open, "Damn... I didn't think she'd..." She slowly backed away, muttering "Hot... Very... Oh shit. Josh." The last part was inaudible even to Josef, and the two merely stared at one another, paying no attention to the departing techie.

With him touching her cheek gently, Beth could feel his breath against her ear as he murmured, "Merry Christmas, Beth."

**---**

**Posting a Christmas piece ON Christmas. Who have thought it? Anyways, they're no where near a relationship... Well, they're closer than when they started out. He didn't kiss her then ;P So this is going to continue for awhile – the dancing around each other and the slight flirting, mainly on Josef's part, just because I think that Beth would be the seductress. Not the tease. But that's just my opinion.**

**And, after all, there's still the tiny matter of her current, annoying, very human boyfriend, Josh to deal with.**

**He's going to have to go soon.**


	4. Josh's Denial

**Thank you again for the great reviews. **

**This is the chapter most of you have been waiting for – the ultimate demise of Josh. No more needing to worry about that pesky DA. He's not going to be reappearing in any of my fics unless I need him for his job. Otherwise – Sayonara Joshie boy! **

**Don't own anything pertaining to Moonlight, Josef, Beth, and the disappearing Josh included. All I own are the random characters... Who are actually from my real life :O Allyson from the last chapter? Allyson is one of my best friends in real life. Of course, she isn't a camera crew girl... If she's real, I guess I don't own her either. Shucks.**

**This is chock full of Josh, but only up until Saturday (that'll make sense in the story). Then, he's sad, and he's gone. Yay!**

**And the end is what even more people have wanted. I couldn't resist. **

**---**

AT the beginning of their relationship, Josh and Beth were practically inseparable. They were in the 'I can't get enough of you' stage, and to everyone around them, it was practically nauseating.

But it wasn't much better now.

He didn't like to think about it, though. Josh was of the mindset of 'if I ignore it, it'll go away.' That of course failed. Josh had taken on several high profile cases which had taken him out of the state, leaving Beth to her own devices, still in LA. It wasn't intentional, but he was the one who had created the rift between the two. He only liked to blame it on Mick St. John because he was an easy target. He worked closely with Beth – many of her stories coinciding with his cases. It seemed only natural that Beth would become closer to Mick, and more distant to Josh.

That wasn't always the case. Months after meeting Mick, he noticed that Beth had started to gravitate back to him. Apparently, Mick had been married before, his ex – wife was back, and he was lusting after her again. All Josh could do was thank God for small miracles.

In fact, Josh had been getting ready to ask Beth to marry him. Now that Mick was out of the way, he knew that Beth would come back, and fixate all of her attention that she would give to men, back to him. He even went so far as to buy the ring, which set his paycheck back a few months, and call Beth's father for permission. The last one was easier said than done. Mister Turner, otherwise known as Alec Turner, had disliked Josh from the moment they had met. Even though his baby girl had seemed head over heels for this boy, he did not approve at all.

But Josh sucked it up and called him anyways. Come hell or high water, he was going to ask Beth to marry him. Nothing, not even no permission from her father, would stop him. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Alec did approve. He did say yes, and he did say that he was glad that it was Josh who she was going to marry, and not some random guy she met in a bar.

Josh never mentioned the fact that Beth and him had met in the pub across from the DA's office. He figured it wouldn't go over well.

With ring in hand, father's permission in mind, all Josh had to do was decide where exactly he would pop the question. Would she want it all girly and romantic, at some glitzy restaurant? Or just something simple and discrete at a park?

Having finally decided the where – at a dinner, where he'd cook the chicken, and he'd invite all of their closest friends and family, heck, he might even invite Mick! He needed to know the when – he currently had six cases that he had to try, but on Monday night, perhaps he could get it in. No, screw the cases. He, Josh Lindsey, was going to propose to his girlfriend, Beth Turner, at dinner on Sunday night.

He had everything planned to a 'T.' The chicken recipe had been chosen, the people invited (he was still wavering on Mick), Maureen was notified so that Beth would not be called in, and all that was left was to count down the days.

_SATURDAY_

"Beth Turner." Beth answered her phone.

"Josh Lindsey." Josh jokingly replied.

Beth rolled her eyes, "Hey Josh, can you hang on a second?" Covering the mouth piece, she leaned her head back to where Josef and Mick were sitting, "I've got to take this. Mick? Could you please not do any Beth trashing while I'm not here? I'd like to be there in person to hear it."

Josef, two days prior, had been getting annoyed with how Beth and Mick were acting towards, and about, each other, and had finally set up a meeting between the two, with him acting as mediator. So far, they had covered which football teams that they had been rooting for (Beth – Colts, Mick – Packers, Josef – Steelers), gas prices (Josef/Mick – they're not that bad. Beth – yeah, if you're someone with loads of money) and global warming (Josef – Humans are killing the world and themselves by every single thing they do, Beth – Hey!). Progress nevertheless.

"Also, do you mind not listening in? I know that vamps have, like, super sonic hearing, and this is kinda a private conversation, so..." She left the end of the sentence blank, as the two vampires agreed. "Alright, Josh, sorry about that, I was in the middle of a meeting."

Josh immediately felt bad, "I'm sorry, darling. Should I call back?"

Beth shook her head, but realized he could not see her, "Nah, it's fine. It can be rescheduled for almost anytime."

"Okay, good." He said in relief, "So, I called to see if you would want to come over to my place for dinner on Sunday? I'm cooking the chicken you love so much."

"Uh..." Beth bit her lip, her and Ally had planned on going to a show on Monday, but this dinner had to be important if he was planning it three days in advance.

"Please?" He asked hopefully, "I promise that you won't regret it."

"Okay, fine. I'm in." She consented, "What time should I be there?"

"Eh, five thirty should be good. Yeah, five thirty to six."

"I'll be there."

Josh smiled brightly, "Great! And honey, I just want you to know that I" She hung up the phone before he could finish, "Love you." He sighed deeply. At least he knew she was coming.

"Beth?" Mick inquired, "What was that for?"

"Ugh. He was calling me to ask me out for dinner on Monday. Which, by the way, please remind me to tell Ally so she doesn't go buy the tickets." Beth closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her down, "I honestly don't know why I'm still with the guy. He's just starting to really annoy me."

Josef threw his hands up, "Beth! I thought that when we started this, we'd make sure to keep on the subject of your's and Mick's relationship. Not your's and Josh's."

Beth rolled her eyes, "Right. And football is so much more on topic." She picked up her bag, "I need to go talk to Ally."

Standing up, Josef shook his head in laughter and led the two of them to the door, "Well, Mick, Beth my dear, I believe we've made some real progress here. I'm almost positive that if Mick gets you alone, Beth, he won't try to do you any damage. And Mick, I'd like to think that Beth here won't come after you with a stake next."

Mick shot him a glare, "Goodbye, Josef."

"Later, Mick."

Beth stayed behind an extra moment, "Thanks, Josef. I really appreciate what you're doing for me. And Mick."

Josef tried to contain a smile, "I have my own agenda. You two fighting takes up all of my time, and that is bad for business. This is nothing personal."

"Right." Beth giggled, "And vampires don't exist."

Josef walked up to her and affectionately patted her cheek, "You're welcome, Beth." Without dropping the pace, his voice changed from the low, husky voice, to the all business one, "Now, you said that you must go meet with Ally. I'm sure that she's still at Buzzwire."

She kissed him chastely on the cheek, "Thanks again, and I'll talk to you later!"

"SERIOUSLY though, Ally, I don't know what to do." Beth screamed in frustration. "It's just that Josh and I haven't been getting along well, I feel like we've lost the spark, and the chemistry. I know I still love him, but I don't think that I'm _in _love with him.

"And then there's this other guy... And I don't know what to do."

"WAIT!" Ally started, "There's another guy?"

Beth's shoulders slumped, "Yeah, and I like him. I really, really like him."

"More than Josh?"

Beth could only shrug in an 'I don't know' way.

"Do I know him?

"You may have met once or twice." Beth said vaguely, "This is still not helping though. I don't know what to do. Ally, please tell me what to do!"

Allyson regarded her sympathetically, but then hardened up, "Well, girl, you need to take charge. Either dump Josh's sorry ass and seriously go after this new flame of yours, or be stuck with Lindsey for the rest of eternity."

Beth laughed inwardly at her eternity comment. There'd be no way she'd spend eternity with Josh. First off, they'd have to find a willing vamp to Turn one or both of them, make sure that the Turning process didn't go wrong, and then the whole eternity, never going to part, part would come into play.

Forever's a long time.

"If you could," Ally asked, "Hypothetically, of course, live forever, would you want to be with Josh? Not with him meaning around him, but tied down to him. Dating, marriage, even. Can you honestly see that?"

Ally stared at Beth straight in the eye. "Because if you can't, there's your answer right there."

On that final note, Ally pushed her chair back to stand up, "So, am I going to be seeing you at the show on Monday? Or are you not going to come?"

Beth had a distant look on her face, accompanied by a slight frown, "I'm not sure yet. I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, toots."

_SUNDAY_

"One day left, Lindsey, one day left." Tomas, one of Josh's close friends said. "And then hopefully in about six or seven months from now, you'll no longer be a free man."

Josh pursed his lips and shook his head, "Nah. I've been whipped since the moment I first met Beth. There's been no one else for me. And believe me, I wouldn't want it any other way."

Angela, Josh's other assistant, who was also in the room, was a closet romantic and couldn't help but ask, "So how did you two meet? Did it seem like magic?"

Josh smiled in nostalgia, "Well, Beth and I met in the bar across from this building. And it wasn't a very pleasant first meeting. She was there to meet an informant, and I was there to try to wind down after a case. After the guy had left, she sidled up to the bar and ordered herself a drink, I believe it was a vodka tonic.

"I thought that was a strange drink for a girl to be getting, but I ignored it, and instead asked the bartended to let me pay for it."

"Was she not grateful for the drink?" Angela questioned.

"No." Josh said, "No she was grateful for it. Said thank you, introduced herself. But then she tossed the drink on me, said 'I never drink anything that someone else buys me unless I know them beforehand. You never know who's going to try to kill you.' I don't think that I had laughed that hard in a long time.

"We talked awhile, about our jobs, where we were from, small talk like that, and then I asked for her number." Josh rubbed his cheek, "She slapped me. Accused me of just wanting to sleep with her. I, in the end, convinced her that my intentions were pure, and I only wanted to take her out for dinner. She agreed, and when we went out, it was amazing. I had never connected with someone like that before. She's just... Perfect. I knew that she was the one from the moment I met her, but it's taking me over a year to try to convince her of the same.

"My only prayer is that she'll say yes."

A voice come from the doorway, "She'll say yes to what?"

All three of the room's occupants turned to the hallway. Beth was leaning against the slightly ajar door, one eyebrow raised, interrogation face ready.

"In the case that we're working on right now we have a really uncooperative female witness, who doesn't seem to care that if she doesn't testify, she's going to jail for being in contempt of court." Josh inwardly thanked Tomas for his quick thinking. "And we really, really don't want that to happen."

"I can try to talk her into it, if you want." Beth said, trying to be helpful. "I really don't mind."

"No, it's alright. We'll figure something out."

Josh cocked his head in confusion, "Shouldn't you be at work right now? Not that I'm not happy you're here, but..."

Beth smiled sadly, "I needed to talk to you before I lost all of my courage." She turned to Tomas and Angela, "Angela, Tomas, would you two mind stepping out, this will only take a moment or two."

Tomas and Angela walked out silently, each passing Josh with a friendly pat on the back, channeling all of their good lying skills into him. When Beth had on her interrogation face, things usually didn't end well for the person on the receiving end.

Beth shut the door behind the two lawyers," Josh..."

Before she could say anything, Josh came up and kissed her, "I'm glad you're here, babe. I love you so much."

Beth's heart was breaking, but she knew that, deep down, this would only hurt him more if she waiting longer, "Josh... Josh stop. This is important." Josh backed off slowly, "Thank you." Beth scratched her head, "Wow, it seemed a hell of a lot easier on the way up so I'm just going to come out and say it." Beth took a deep breath and steeled herself for the reaction she was bound to get, "I'm breaking up with you."

Josh gaped at her, "What?" He whispered, "What did you say?"

"I'm breaking up with you. I can't do this anymore, Josh."

Josh felt the world start to crumble, all of his careful planning going straight out the window. "But you can't be serious." He shook his head violently, "No. No. NO!" He staggered backwards and leaned against his desk, hand covering his face, "Beth... Why?"

Beth shuffled her feet uncomfortably, she was never great with trying to placate people when they were starting to, or were, crying. "I... Uh... Listen, Josh, I will always love you, I want you to know that."

He took his hand off of his face, "Don't give me that shit, Beth. I want to know why you are breaking up with me. Your honest answer. I'm not going to hold anything against you. I _can't _anymore, I guess."

"Because I'm not IN love with you. Not anymore, at least." Beth's voice strengthened, "I really was in love you, but everything that's been going on between the two of us, I... I'm just not." She fiddled with her purse and focused her eyes on the floor, "There's been some trust issues, and we've just been drifting apart. I know you have to agree with me on that. There's just no spark anymore. And if I stayed in this relationship, it would hurt me, and hurt you even more the longer I went without breaking up with you.

"I really didn't want to hurt you anymore than I had too."

"Too bad. You already have." Josh wiped his eyes, "Can I ask you a question?" Beth nodded, "Was it because of Mick? Are you leaving me for him?"

Beth made eye contact for the first time since entering the room, "No. I am not leaving you for Mick. The only feelings that I have for that man are purely platonic. I have never lied to you about that. Granted, any female would think he's attractive, but they'd think the same about you. There has never been anything going on between Mick and myself. And there never will be."

"I believe you." Josh looked up at the ceiling, "I think it's best if you go now."

Beth opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a quiet, "I'm sorry."

And she was gone.

_MONDAY_

"So you did it?" Ally asked, mouth full of food.

"That's disgusting, Alls." Beth said, "But yes. I broke it off with him."

Ally swallowed and cleared her throat, "So, feelings? How are you doing?"

Beth beamed, the first real smile she had used in a long time, "I feel great. Absolutely wonderful. It's like there's this huge weight that's been taken off of my chest. To put it simply, I feel free."

"Good for you, toots." Ally raised her hand for a high five, "So, moving on from Josh, who's this new object of lust?"

Beth weakly returned the high five, "I just broke up with my boyfriend of over a year. Don't you think that I should wait a little bit longer before I go after someone new? Like a week, or a month, or something like that. I just don't think it's right to go chasing after someone who I don't even know if he likes me back, the day after I broke up with my boyfriend."

Ally waved her hand noncommittally, "Pfft! Details. Besides, if you truly like this guy, I mean enough to break up with Josh, why should you wait? But that wasn't what I wanted to know, my real question – Who is he? You said that I met him before, but the only guys I can remember meeting are your father and brother, Josh, Mick, the cop you were talking to one day, and that Josef character..." She scrunched her face up in concentration , "Father, brother and Josh are out, for obvious reasons. Mick... You said that you had no feelings whatsoever for him and I trust that you're not lying. So that leaves the detective and Josef. The detectives married and at least ten years older than you, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't openly lust after a married guy that much older than you so it must be..." Ally gasped, "Nice choice!"

Beth blushed lightly," Yeah... He's the guy."

"Well that's a step up from Josh if I do say so myself." Ally said approvingly, "And besides, you two would look so pretty together. The party? Yeah, you two could have been voted cutest couple if we actually did that sort of thing."

"I really don't know if he likes me, Ally, and I'm pretty good friends with him right now. If I tell him, and he doesn't feel the same way, I could lose that friendship. And I don't think that's worth loosing."

"Hunny, you need to take a chance sometime. Josh was a safety net, and yeah, I get it, those are nice to have. Sometimes. But you need to try something out of your comfort zone. Something that's not completely guaranteed to happen. I watched you guys at the party. The way he looked at you, girl, it was total and complete adoration. He wants more than what you have at the moment." Seeing Beth start to contemplate her words, Ally went in for the kill, "Besides, if you never take any chances, how can life be in any way, worthwhile?"

Beth took one last bite of her hamburger, "The show was great. We need to go see more plays together. This was fun."

"No changing the subject, Beth!" Ally scolded, "Now, I want you to call up this Josef guy, and go meet him someplace."

"And if he even agrees, do what? Jump him? Friends don't molest friends. I'm pretty sure you were the one who told me that." Beth said sarcastically.

"My words are already coming back to haunt me. Seriously, though? Go up, tell him how you feel, gauge his reaction, if it's bad, back away slowly."

Almost afraid to ask, Beth questioned, "If it's good?"

"Plant one on him, and let it go from there." Ally threw her drink away and grabbed Beth's bag to pull out her phone, "It's not that late, he'll still be up. Say it's important, and you need to meet with him soon. Tomorrow would work, but today preferably." She scrolled down to his number and pressed it, "And... Go!"

"_Beth?_" Josef's voice rang out, bringing an involuntary smile to Beth's face.

"Hey, Josef. Listen I had a question for you."

Remembering the Christmas party, Josef regarded the phone warily, "_If it has to do with me dressing up like Santa again, the answer is no._"

"No, I'm not going to make you dress up like Santa." From the corner of her eye, Beth could see Ally motioning with her hands to hurry it up. "But I was wondering where you were at the moment."

"_At my apartment, but I'm going to be leaving for the office soon. Why do you ask?_"

Beth took a deep, calming breath, "Is it alright with you if I come meet you there? There's something that I really need to talk to you about."

Josef noted that she sounded nervous, "_Of course. What time should I be expecting you?_"

"What time are you going to be getting in?"

"_About 8:30._"

"I'll be there at nine, then." Ally gave her a thumbs up, "See you then."

"_Six it is._"

Josef would never say goodbye on the phone. He'd say his last few words, and then hang up. Did it with clients, coworkers, Mick, and now Beth. She found it somewhat annoying.

"So?" Ally raised an eyebrow, "What did he say?"

"I'm meeting him at his office at about nine."

Ally looked at her watch, "Oh no! That gives us only an hour!" She stood up and grabbed Beth's hand, "We need to get you ready for this!"

"IS this really necessary?" Beth said in desperation, "I'm just going to go talk to him. I don't want him to want to, what is it you said? Devour me?"

"You're going to go talk to him about how you like him and how you broke up with your boyfriend because of him. And trust me on this, you WANT him to want to devour you. Catch!" Ally threw a pair of shoes at her, "You want him to want you. And this is how you're going to do that." Ally looked at the outfit they had laid out on the bed." So, shoes? Check. Pants? Ugh, I can't believe you talked me into letting you wear those. The dress was SO much hotter."

"Hey!" Beth interjected, "I didn't want to look like I had tried to hard for this."

Ally rolled her eyes, "Right. Shirt? Very cute shirt? Check. Now," Ally tossed the clothes to Beth, "Put these on, and we'll do your hair."

In the bathroom, Beth could help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. She was only going to talk the man for goodness sake! She wasn't going out on a date with him! "Alls?" She called out, "I'm ready."

Striding in, Ally brought in a chair with her, and pushed Beth down into it. "Hair and makeup. I want complete silence from you. Got it?"

"Got it."

The next twenty minutes were spent with Ally twisting, and pulling and curling Beth's long hair ("Good God woman! How much hair do you have?!") but keeping the makeup the same as it had been for the show. "Okay, now, stand up and turn around, I need to see the full effect." Beth did as told, and Ally whistled, "Damn girl. I'm good."

Ally was right, and Beth knew it. "Thanks, Ally."

Ally pulled her into a hug, "Now, go get 'em, girl."

USING the direct line, Josef's secretary called, "Mister Kostan, you have a lady here who says she has an appointment to see you, but she's not listed. Should I have security escort her out?"

Josef's voice came out forcibly, "_No. Let her up. No one touches her._"

"Alright." The secretary hung up and peered at Beth, "You can go up now. Victor will escort you up."

Beth thanked her, and found herself being propelled forward by a large man who she assumed to be Victor. "Mister Kostan doesn't usually let visitors in without an appointment." He said as they stood in the elevator, "May I ask why you're being allowed up?"

"Well, I called ahead of time, and I'm a close friend of Josef's." She laughed lightly, "I hope he wouldn't turn me away."

Victor nodded, "And top floor. Mister Kostan's office is right through this door. It was nice meeting you, Miss Turner."

Beth waved goodbye, and opened the door, "Beth?" Josef said, "Good, you're here now." He gestured to everyone else in the room. "Would you mind leaving for a moment. I need to deal with her."

The room cleared, and Beth put her hands on her hips in mock anger, "_Deal_ with? You have to deal with me? Maybe I don't want to talk to you anymore."

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I meant."

He motioned for her to take a seat, but she denied it, "No, I don't need to sit down for this."

"Alright then," Josef said, quirking one eyebrow up, "What's up?"

That was the last thing he said before Beth walked up, grabbed his jacket to pull his head down and kissed him.

He stood there in shock, but found himself threading one hand through her hair and the other placed on her back to pull her closer. He tore his mouth from hers and started to press kisses up and down her jaw, her moans causing him to unintentionally start to vamp out. Knowing that it would NOT be a good idea to bite her, he satisfied himself with grazing his teeth across her neck.

Several minutes later, the two separated, both breathing heavily.

"Wow." Was all Josef could say.

She laid her head against Josef's chest. "Wow."

Josef stroked her hair fondly, "So, was this what you wanted to talk to me about? Because if it was, well, this was a very, very successful meeting." He pressed a kiss to her head, "In fact, if you have time tomorrow, we could continue this over dinner at Ca'Breas at seven?"

Beth sighed contently, "That sounds nice."

**--- **

**Well, I'm more content with this chapter than I have been with some of the others. **

**And I need to make a little announcement. I don't ask for reviews. It's not how I work. Begging is not what I do. However, as a writer, it really lowers your moral when no one (or only a select few – I thank you bellamuerte13, xosummerxo, and TwilightG for being uber amazingly faithful) reviews. You don't know how you're doing, how people view your stories or how you can improve them. While adding it to your favorites or story alert is great because you can tell that the person likes it well enough, it would be great if for just one chapter you could say something, ANYTHING about how the story is.**

**Or not. I'm going to keep posting anyways, because I like being able to write out my thoughts, and let other people see them. But it's always nice to get feedback on it.**

**Megan**


	5. Mediating a Dinner

**Happy new year, everyone! I'm sorry for the long wait between updates, but I was with my family down at Disneyland for break. It was sad, on new year's eve, there was supposed to be fireworks at midnight, but it was too windy and they were canceled. Sad day. Instead, I spent an entire day with thousands of my closest friends, but on the bright side – I got a new hat, and teenage girly side coming out – HSM sling back bag. Heck yes. Go HSM. **

**This chapter is going to cover what the last didn't, and the dinner at Ca'Breas. So it probably won't be too long. The beginning is just some humor, and the end is some romance. :) **

**I own nothing that you recognize (unless it's from a prior chapter, or Allyson. She's my own little creation), and I don't own the town of Brea in California. Don't know if you got that. But CA California, and Breas Brea. Add the two, and you get an Italian restaurant. Yay. Or any of the football teams mentioned. **

**---**

"BETH, Mick," Josef addressed the two, "We're here today because I'm getting seriously pissed off with having to deal with both o your whining. Now, we are going to talk this out whether you two like it or not."

Mick scowled and Beth pouted, but agreed to nevertheless.

"So. How are we going to do this?" Mick questioned.

Josef pursed his lips, "You two talk about what's on your mind about each other. I mediate. Sounds good?" Without waiting, he answered his own question, "Good. Now, who wants to start?"

Mick gestured to Beth, "Ladies first."

Beth snorted, "Right. Well... I'll just put it out there. I staked Coraline because she was stalking both you and me, she had kidnapped me," She said the last one vehemently, "and I'm pretty sure that she was back not only for you, but to do something to me. A good portion of the pictures were purely of me, and I guess that I just wasn't a fan of that."

"I'll say." Mick muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Mick?" Josef said, having fully well heard his response, "Beth if you are finished, Mick, would you like to add anything to this?"

"Hmm... How I'm feeling? Well... I'm surprised that Oregon beat South Florida. With Dixon out, I thought that Florida was a shoe – in to win!" He shook his head sadly, "I lost some big money on that game."

Beth looked surprised for a moment, "You're following the bowls, too?" Both Mick and Josef nodded and she laughed, "Ugh... Did you see the New Mexico bowl? TOTAL blowout! I mean, they couldn't even score? Or in the Holiday bowl, I was Arizona all the way, but then... Stupid Texas."

Josef rolled his eyes, "My pro teams aren't doing that much better. The Steelers are all injury riddled, BUT the AFC wild card game is coming up, they just need to win that, and they'll be in the playoffs."

"Pfft. They're never going to be able to take on the Jaguars."

Beth glared at Mick, "Yeah right. The Steelers are SO going to come out ahead." She smirked, "But my heart always goes out to the Colts."

Josef tossed her a smile, "Your heart going out to Manning?"

"I'm a die hard Packers fan myself. Green Bay forever!" He made a fist and held it up in the air, 'No matter what the score, Green Bay all the way."

Josef slapped himself on the side of the head, "What are we doing? Enough of this nonsense. Back to the issue at hand. Mick – how do you feel about Beth staking Coraline now that you found out that she'd been stalking you and Beth?"

"The same way. She shouldn't have done it. But, that's a subject I don't want to delve into. I don't know if she's going to survive, so let's not speak of it until the doctor says for sure that she is going to live or die." Mick dismissed the question by changing the subject again, "So, global warming. What's up with that?"

"Humans are killing the world and themselves by every single thing they do." Josef deadpanned.

"Hey!" Beth looked at him, clearly offended, "I resent that! Sure, humans are killing the world, but vampires are just as responsible. Example one, your cars? How many do you have? How much gas are you wasting? And speaking of gas, the prices? Ugh. It's getting ridiculous how expensive it is for just one gallon. I'm so glad that I live close to Buzzwire. I rarely have to drive anywhere."

Josef and Mick shrugged, "I don't think it's that bad." Josef said.

"Yeah, me either." Mick added, "They aren't that bad. Sure, they've gone up, but we can deal with it."

"Yeah, if you're someone with loads of money, accumulated over 400 years. I'm sure that the three and a half dollars per gallon is a mere trifle for you." She glared right at Josef, "Correct?"

He nodded, "Yeah. It doesn't do any damage to my accounts. So if it doesn't affect me directly, why should I care?"

Beth couldn't argue with his statement. Josef was rich, and Mick was on his way to getting there. They didn't flaunt it... Mostly. And the gas prices didn't matter to them. So why should they care? "Because... I don't know. But you should."

"Nice come back."

Beth stuck her tongue out at Josef, and was about to come up with a witty retort when her phone started to ring, "Hang on one second." She rummaged through her bag and emerged victorious, "Beth Turner." She listened for a beat, "Hey Josh, can you hang on a second?" She covered the mouthpiece, "I've got to take this. Mick? Could you please not d any Beth trashing while I'm not here? I'd like to be there in person to hear it."

He laughed and assured her that he wouldn't.

"Also, do you mind not listening in? I know that vamps have like, super sonic hearing, and this is kind of a private conversation, so..." Josef pointed to the kitchen, where she could be somewhat alone, "Alright, Josh, sorry about that, I was in the middle of a meeting."

Her voice started to fade away, and Josef turned to Mick, "So the girl's gone, now's the time to gossip about her." He said in a sarcastic way.

"Those shoes? Why in the world would she wear those? They are _so _last season." Mick joked.

Josef regarded his friend closely. He looked bad. It looked like he hadn't slept nor shaved in days. The bags under his eyes were huge, and the stubble was ridiculous. If it wasn't for the fact that Mick was going through a difficult time, he would have made some sort of snarky remark, and then sent him back home to make himself look better. It was a disgrace.

"But Mick, seriously, how are you feeling?"

Mick rubbed his forehead, "I don't know, Josef. I honest to God don't know."

"Okay, Coraline. Her being back, and being human, then staked." Josef prodded.

"I'm confused as to how the hell she survived the fire, and the same with how she became human. I'm pissed that Beth staked her, although I can understand why, I'd do the same if I was in her position." But put his head in his hands, "I can't loose Coraline. I just can't. If she dies, the cure dies with her."

"So that's all this is? You're worried that Coraline will never tell you the cure?"

Mick slowly nodded, "Yeah. Plus, she was my wife. Of course I still have feelings for her, but I don't know how Beth will act if I get the chance to be with her again..." He trailed off, the implications huge.

"So you'd give up Beth for her?"

"I don't know Josef. Beth is... Beth is great. She's beautiful, smart and doesn't take any crap, but we're not compatible. I know she doesn't love me, or even like me in that way. I don't love her, or like her in that way either. There's not relationship there to give up, but she's such a wonderful friend. I haven't had very many of those in a long time." Josef was about to ask Mick another question when Beth reentered, "Beth? What was that for?"

"He was calling to ask me out to dinner on Monday night." Her rant calmed her down enough to where she could calmly get out, "I need to go see Ally."

Josef laughed at her, and walked both her and Mick to the door, "Later Mick."

Beth stayed behind, and leaned up against the doorway, "Thanks, Josef. I really appreciate what you are doing for me. And Mick."

Josef joked that he had his own agenda. That the to of them fighting was taking up his time, which was bad for business and that this was in no way personal. They both knew it was a total lie, and Beth called him on it. He shrugged it off, not wanting the mortal to know that he was doing it not only to end the feud, but he that genuinely liked spending time with her.

A kiss on the cheek, and the mediation was over.

"_In fact, if you have time tomorrow, we could continue this over dinner at Ca'Breas at seven?"_

ALLY just smirked when Beth told her what happened at Josef's office, "I told you that it would work."

"No," Beth shook a finger at Ally, "You told me to talk to him, tell him how I feel, and gauge his reaction."

"Yeah, it was back away slowly, or plant one on him. You just skipped phase one." Ally scoffed, "Dinner at Ca'Breas. Italian, I do believe. Nice choice. Very fancy, we must go shopping."

Beth looked at Ally confused, "But I have nice clothes that I could wear there. Stuff that gets me into the clubs. I'll be fine"

Ally shook her head, "Not those slutty dresses. Here, you're going to be needing a quality dress. Not whorish, but not conservative. I know just the guy."

BETH had to admit, the dress was gorgeous. Its green color flattered her skin tone immensely, and, as Ally said, "She was going to knock that Mister Kostan right out of his Prada socks."

ALLY predicted Josef's reaction nearly perfectly. Judging by his speechlessness and slack jaw, Beth could tell that he was loving it. "So? What do you think?"

Josef motioned for her to spin around so he could get the full effect, "You look... Beautiful. Ravishing. Amazing."

Beth blushed, "Thank you." She said, then, looking him up and down appreciatively, said, "You don't look to bad yourself."

Josef's trademark smirk was back in place, "Shall we?"

She took his outstretched hand, "We shall."

AT dinner, the two tried to steer away from the topic of Mick and Coraline, but it strayed there anyway.

"All that I want to know is why he's so mad at me for staking Coraline."

Josef sighed, that was a loaded question, "He's not mad at you for staking her. He said that he would have done the same thing if he was in your position."

Beth looked at him with a sadness that nearly broke Josef's heart, "But why... Why is he acting like this? I just don't get it. If he'd do the same thing... I know that he wants the cure, but, I just don't get it."

"Mick wants to become mortal again more than he wants anything in the world. He would do anything for it, and if Coraline somehow found a cure for vampirism, it doesn't matter who or what stands in his way. His strict sense of morals restricts him from hurting innocents, but in this case, he wouldn't view them as innocents. They'd be people standing in his way. He's dangerous, Beth. He is really dangerous."

Beth bit her lip, not knowing if this was going to be overstepping her boundaries, "Josef, if you had the chance to become a human again, to no longer be a vampire, would you?" He averted his eyes, but she grabbed his face to look him straight on, "Would you want to be human again?"

"I'm not sure, Beth." She let go of his face when he began speaking, "I've been like this for over 400 years. It seems to be all that I know, all that I can remember. Did you know you are my only human relationship, romantic or otherwise? I don't go around humans because I know that they'll die, and you'll be left hurt. I don't think that I could do that to someone. So, I know that this sounds bad, but I'd rather stay a vampire than become a human again. No offence."

"None taken. I was just curious."

Josef nodded, "Fair enough. But I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Would you ever want to be Turned?"

Beth nearly choked on her wine, that was _not_ a question she had anticipated, "I don't know. The black crystal showed me all of the good effects of vampirism, but none of the negative. I suppose if I had a real reason to be Turned, a legitimate one, not just because I wanted to, then sure, I would. If it was a life or death situation, I'd most likely say Turn me, but I wouldn't walk up to you or Mick or Ryder and say Turn me on a whim. If there was a guy vamp, who I fell in love with, and it was the only way to be with him, then yes I'd say Turn me. But otherwise, I don't think so." Laughing awkwardly, she grinned, "No offence."

Josef waved his hand noncommittally, "It's fine, but let's go on to a lighter subject, shall we?"

Beth laughed, "That sounds good."

THROUGH out the night, Josef regaled her with tales of his life. From what it was like to travel to America, to living through all sorts of wars. He said that he had met the Red Baron, but Beth believed that to be a lie.

"No, you did not meet him."

"I did! He and I shared stories over a drink at an old inn in the country side. He was quite the entertainer, of course, I didn't know until much later that he was the Baron, and at that point he was merely a distant memory, but I swear to you, I met him!"

"Right, Josef. Right." Beth giggled, "I'm sure that after 400 years, your mind starts to go, even if you can heal yourself. You must be making this up."

"Fine, Beth." Josef said, turning his head, "Think what you want. But just know that I'm always going to be right. I have seniority."

DINNER went by much too fast, and soon Beth found herself outside of her apartment door, fiddling wit the keys in her hand. "I would ask you in but..."

"But I think it's a little soon for that." Josef agreed.

Beth gazed at Josef with a smile, "I had a wonderful time tonight, thank you."

Josef smiled crookedly at her in response, "You're welcome." No words were spoken as he swiftly kissed her goodnight.

He let her go, and she turned to open the door, "Goodnight, Josef. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She said as the door opened. She twirled around to face him again, and with a kiss on the cheek she grinned, "You didn't meet the Red Baron."

He chucked, "Goodnight, Beth."


	6. Weeping Willows

**So this chapter won't have any effect on the other one shots in this series. Keep that in mind. Sorry if it's somewhat/pretty sad. I was in the mood for writing it. **

**I don't own anything pertaining to the show Moonlight, except for Noelle, Allyson, and the other various non Moonlight participants. Or Catch – 22. **

**---**

JUNE 15. The day he met her. July 21. His first real conversation with her, also the day that he survived an explosion that he should have died in, as well as the first day that he felt a connection with a human after Sara went into her coma. August 27. Their first kiss. Not one on the cheek, but a real one. She walked up, and planted one right on him. September 3. The day that he said I love you, and she said it back. Also the day that he gave up feeding on the airhead freshies. October 9. The day he asks her to move in with him, and she says yes. December 5. Her birthday. January 10. His birthday, or as close to it as he could remember. 400 years is a long time to keep track of dates. But the important ones he tries to remember.

Each one of those days, he goes to the florist who designed her sister's wedding bouquet, in which she was the maid of honor, and he her date, and buys a single tiger lily, her favorite flower.

He drives sixteen miles, a trip he won't let anyone else take him to nor take anyone else with, to the east, and sits in the car for at least a half an hour, head leaning up against the steering wheel. The noise never bothers the occupants, and usually he comes during the night, so no one is wandering around.

He gets out of the car, and talks to her.

It doesn't matter what it is about, how Mick is doing in his search for the cure (poorly), how his stocks are going (well usually), and if it's football season, the bowls and the Colts. He makes a point to poke fun at Peyton Manning, she always laughed at him whenever he'd start taking about the quarterback.

He loved it when she laughed.

She doesn't anymore. She only laughs in his dreams.

The only day he refuses to visit is on April 3rd. There are always several people there as well, and he doesn't like sharing his time with her with anyone. Doesn't matter who. Mick, her mother, father, sister, he doesn't care. This is his time to be with her, and they can just fuck off.

But he doesn't say that. He doesn't do that too much anymore. He merely stays in his apartment that day, and goes to visit on other special days.

But they're not only special days, some are nondescript – he had just accomplished something big, and wanted to share it with someone, or he just needed to talk. Other times, he'd just go there to get away. His friends could annoy him, and it was quiet there.

Back to April 3rd. Beth's friend Noel had gotten herself in a spot of trouble, and Beth had begged Josef to help her out. Being the gentleman that he is, and the fact that his girlfriend said she would make it worth his while, he agreed.

April 3rd was a day that would forever run through his memory.

_APRIL 1__st_

"_Josef?" Beth called out as she entered the apartment they now shared, "Are you here? I need your help."_

_She was met with silence and her shoulders slumped. She had really hoped he was home, she needed to talk to him. She really needed his help._

_But two arms wrapping around her waist shook the thoughts from her head, "I was upstairs." Josef turned Beth around to kiss her, "Now, what was it that you were saying about needing my help?"_

_Beth had to think for a moment, Josef's scent always seemed to make her lose focus. "Um... Right. My friend, Noelle, you met her at the wedding – red head, freckles, southern accent? Ring a bell?"_

_He nodded, "Yeah, I remember her. She questioned whether my motives with you were pure or not." He quirked his lips into a smile, "It was interesting. What's wrong with her?"_

_Beth hesitated, "Nothing's wrong with her, but I think that she might be in some trouble."_

_Josef wanted to groan. Beth and trouble never seemed to go well, "What kind of trouble? Because if she's pregnant and doesn't know what to do, or has realized that she was adopted from birth and needs to find her real parents I don't want in."_

_Beth laughed, "No, she saw something, and my sources told me that there's been a hit put out on her." She bit her lip, "So in a nutshell, she saw a guy get whacked, and now the people she saw are going to come after her."_

"_Ah. So you want me to find the men, and stop them?"_

_Beth nodded, "Pretty please?"_

_He would say yes, they both knew it. "What's in it for me? I mean, she's not my friend, and I'm not getting anything out of it..."_

_Beth trailed her hand up and down his shirt seductively, "I promise I'll make it worth your while."_

_He grinned, "Let me meet with Noelle. I'll see what I can do."_

_Beth beamed at him, and as he grabbed his jacket and keys he turned around, "This better not be a joke."_

_APRIL 2__nd_

_It was true that Noelle had seen someone whacked. And it was also true that there was a hit out on her._

_But it wasn't true that she was in trouble anymore. Josef's men took care of it. No one would be hurting Noelle Jacobson unless they wanted to answer to Josef Kostan. Or his men. He wasn't a fan of actually fighting. He'd rather have someone else do it._

_The threat wasn't over it seemed. It was far from it._

_IN his office, Josef was fiddling with something in his pocket when the phone rang, taking him out of his reverie, "What?" He clipped out rudely. Everyone he was willing to be civil with would call him on his cell phone. _

"_Is this Josef Kostan?" _

_A severe Russian accent made it difficult for Josef to understand, "Yes. Who is this?"_

_The man on the line chuckled, "Do not concern yourself with me. Keep a special eye on that blonde beauty of yours. It'd be a tragedy if something were to happen to her."_

_Josef's angered immediately sprouted, "Stay the hell away from Beth! Whatever you want, fine! But leave her out of this!" _

"_Well, since you've been so kind as to give me her name, I shall give you mine. Victor. But as I did not get a last name, neither shall you. Tit for tat, as I believe the saying is."_

"_Leave her out of this, Victor." He spat out the last part, "What do you want?"_

"_Noelle Jacobson saw something she shouldn't have. And you took away the chance we had to correct that. Now, we plan on taking something from you."_

_Josef gasped, "You bastard! Don't you dare TOUCH Beth! Or I'll – "_

"_Or you'll what?" Victor grinned, "But don't worry. We won't touch her. Not planning on getting close to her at all. Like I said, keep an eye on her. The next few days are not going to be pretty for you." _

_Josef was about to respond when all he could hear was the dial tone. He felt the need to punch something, but now was not the time. He had to get to Beth._

_APRIL 3__rd_

_Beth had been good about listening to what Josef had to say. She stayed inside, didn't go outside without Josef, Mick or one of the very few vampires that Josef would ever trust with her life._

_It didn't mean she liked it, though. More than once she had to be pulled away from a window – a single long range shot could take her out easily._

_Dusk was soon approaching, and Josef had taken Beth out to dinner. Surrounded by bodyguards nevertheless, but she was out of the apartment._

"_I'm sorry about all of this, Beth."_

_Beth looked at him questioningly, "Why? It's not your fault. If anything – I should blame Noelle. If she hadn't seen that guy be killed we wouldn't be in this situation."_

"_I know... But I feel like I'm somehow responsible for this. I can't stand the thought of you being hurt or unhappy. But to keep you from being hurt, I have to keep you inside or by a bodyguard all day. But that makes you unhappy, and I hate seeing you that way. I don't know what to do."_

_Beth smiled, "Catch – 22, right?" _

_Josef laughed weakly, "Exactly."_

_She lowered her head to the table, "I hate this, Josef. I really do. I want to be able to go outside without having a bodyguard, I want to be able to look out a window... God, why did he have to choose me out of all of the people that he could."_

" _Beth, you know I love you, right?"_

_Beth looked at him with a warm smile, "I love you, too, Josef. So much."_

"_Then you know why I'm doing this." _

_She blushed, "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just feeling kinda whiny right now."_

"_Hey, hey, hey, hey. Don't blush. I get it. And I'm working on finding this guy, and I'm going to personally whack him for threatening you, and for making my girl upset. I will find him. I promise."_

_Beth looked at him, hope in her eyes, "Promise? And then we can go out to the park and feed the ducks?"_

_He linked his hands with hers, "Promise. And then we'll go out and feed the ducks."_

_That's when the shots came._

_Without a thought, he pushed Beth down and covered her with his body. He could heal, she couldn't. But it was too late, one of the bullets had already grazed her arm. "Jack! Tom!" He barked, "Find the shooter!" He turned his attention back to Beth who seemed fascinated with the wound._

"_I didn't know that my blood would be this red." She touched it and looked up at Josef, "Did you know that?" _

_It seemed that she didn't deal well with seeing her own blood, and Josef laughed, glad that it was only a flesh wound. She'd be fine. From that one anyway. A final shot was fired, hitting her square in the chest._

_She was thrown back against the wall, and Josef rushed to her side, "Beth?" He tapped her face with his free hand whilst putting pressure on her chest, "Beth?"_

_She groaned slightly, coughing up blood, Josef inhaled sharply, this was not a good sign._

"_Beth. Sweetheart. Stay with me, baby girl. Stay with me."_

_Beth weakly reached up to stroke his face, "Josef, I..."She hacked up more blood and he wiped it away, "I... Love you..."_

"_No! No, no, no, no, NO!__Beth! You can't go! You can't leave me!" She smiled at him one last time and she was gone. "No... Beth..." He whispered, "No, no you can't die on me."_

_The paramedics found her cradled in her lover's arms, who was shedding silent tears over her body. _

APRIL 3rd, 2018

Josef never went to the cemetery on April 3rd. There was too much of a chance that he would see people. See people who would want to talk to him about it. Even ten years later, he refused to speak to her family about their life together. It was personal. Memories were all he had left, he didn't want to share them.

He hid in his office. The one at work, not the one at his apartment. He dared not call it home, it wasn't, now that it was devoid of all happiness.

The office was the one place where he could get away from everyone. Security made sure of that. It was the place where he could look at the pictures and mementoes in peace. It was where he could look at their life, and remember why even though loosing Beth was horrifying, he at least had a few blissful months. Never would he trade it.

Except for the month of April. He would sit in his office and weep.

He'd look up at the picture of the two of them on her sister's wedding day. She had told him that her pink dress made her look like a flamingo. He said she looked like a beautiful flamingo. He was smiling down at her at she ranted about the dress. He didn't know who took the picture, but she looked beautiful when she was all flustered, and he loved that photo.

He'd look at the picture and weep.

His attention turned to a pair of ticket stubs to a museum. He was to prove to her that he had met the Red Baron. Even after telling her everything, and showing her the evidence, she didn't believe it.

He chuckled while he wept.

He wept for the loss of a great friend.

And as he looked over to the last object on his desk, a small, dusty blue box, he cried even harder. Picking it up and dusting it off, he opened it slowly to finger the engagement ring inside. On the inscription "_Forever and eternally_." He meant it. Forever would he love her. On April 5th he was hoping to place the ring on her finger, and promise himself to her for eternity.

But that day would never come.

Josef sat on the floor of his office, ring in hand, and wept for the loss of his one true love.

**---**

**I would really like some feedback on this one. I rarely do deep, dark pieces, and I'd like to know how you feel about it. Good, okay, or I should turn tail and go back to fluffier, happy pieces.**

**Megan**


	7. Part One

**Other than it being the end of Jan term, I have no real excuse for not updating for a long while. I apologize for that greatly and I hope that you won't hold it against me.**

**That being said, this is part one of a three shot (more or less so) that I'll be writing. It's AU from my AU (does that make it normal?) where Mick and Beth are just friends, as are Josef and Beth. Josh and Beth were dating up until the point where he was killed (I cried when he died. I actually liked the guy, just not with Beth). So yeah, no romantic relationships in this one... Sorta. More of a JoBe bonding time plus it's full of PissedOff!Mick and SaveTheDay!Beth. Oh, can't forget DamnSexy!Josef. Drools Who wouldn't love a good dose of that? Raises hand I certainly would. Yum. **

**Don't own anything that you recognize unless it's from a previous chapter. Oh, and I make up a few words. Poetic license. Sue me. Actually – don't sue me. Please.**

--

HAZEL BROWN EYES turned to a glacialesque light blue as he felt the annoyance coursing through his system. There was no way that he was having this conversation right here, right now. In fact, he had hoped to avoid it at all costs. But like all things good in his life, it had to come to an end soon.

"Mick." Josef willed his vampire side away and clenched his eyes shut, "I said _I'm sorry_. There's nothing else I can do for you." Mick's challenging stare fueled him more and he exploded, "Coraline's GONE Mick! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that! And I'm not about to waste any of my resources trying to track her down! Ryder is the only one who has the ability to do this, but he's in South America right now in _hiding_ for hacking the US government, it wouldn't be safe for him to be here. In fact, it wouldn't be safe for anyone – you, me and Beth included. Taking the 'cure' was a bad idea in the first place! Sure, during the French Revolution it was the only way to save ourselves, but do you know what happened to the vamps _after_ they took it?"

Mick merely shrugged. No, he had no idea. Coraline never told him the side effects, only that it would make him human for a bit, depending upon how much of the 'cure' was taken.

"Do you ever wonder why Lance is so different from us? Why Coraline seems so alluring?"

Again, the younger vampire shook his head, signaling he had no clue. It never really crossed his mind why they seemed so different. To him, they didn't seem different. To him they just seemed like two normal vampires. They were his family, and families often over look things that they shouldn't. But Mick didn't know that.

"They turned mutant! They turned Mutant, Mick! And that's what's going to happen to you if you keep taking it. You won't permanently turn back into a human – ever. Vampirism is a one way street, trying to go back is impossible even with this so called 'cure.' It just makes things worse." Josef's icy blue eyes started to fade as his voice softened, "Look, you're one of my only true friends. I can't do this for you. I won't let one of my friends hurt himself just to try to become mortal again. I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this to yourself. If you are going to do it, don't let me stop you, but also don't expect me to help you out."

Obviously not the answer that Mick had been looking for, he shook his head in disappointment. "Yeah, some friend you are. I need this, Josef. I just know that if I get more of the cure, I'll be able to somehow make it permanent. If I put it in the blood I drink then maybe –"

"NO." Josef said with a note of finality, "I'm not going to help. If you want to try to find a way to become a human for the rest of your life, however long that may turn out to be, far be it from me to stop you. Just don't come crying to me when you need help."

Mick huffed, "Fine. I had plane tickets set for Paris for the two of us, but I guess I'm going solo." Josef nodded to agree he was, "Alright. Fine. If Beth asks where I am, go ahead and tell her. It's not like she'll come looking for me right now."

Josef's brow furrowed, if something was wrong with his mortal, he should have been the first to know. Nicolai, the vampire he hired to keep watch on her, had some explaining to do. "Why's that? I thought that you and her were good friends."

Mick rolled his eyes, "Barring the fact that my ex – wife, her kidnapper, has come back, I also didn't save her boyfriend when he was dying. She asked me to Turn him, but I didn't. I refuse to put someone through this, no matter who it is."

The older vampire narrowed his eyes, "Her boyfriend's dead?" Mick nodded slowly and unhappily, "Huh. Well, that makes the sporadic calls make a hell of a lot more sense."

"Sporadic calls?"

"Yeah. She's been calling me out of the blue, just wanting to talk to someone. To be honest, it was a little worrisome at the beginning. But no matter. I'll see to it that she's taken care of while her lovely ex – knight is off, trying to end his own life."

Now Mick's eyes were beginning to take on their icy blue hue, indicating he was not pleased with the comment. "I'm not trying to end my own life. I just want to end this immortal one."

Josef raised an eyebrow and deadpanned, "What's the difference?"

He pulled out his phone, "I have some calls I need to make. You know where the door is. Oh, while you're in Paris or wherever the hell you're going to be there, try not to hurt anyone else. The French have had it bad enough. They don't need you messing around with them as well."

BETH FELT THE familiar feeling coming on again as she looked through the photo album. Grabbing a tissue, she prepared herself for another bout of tears. To her surprise none came. It seemed that she had simply run out of tears. For her, the one who rarely cried, that was a difficult feat. Sniffling a tiny bit, Beth reached for the phone. If she couldn't cry, then she'd at least talk to someone.

Hands hesitating over the speed dial, she contemplated who to call. Number one, Allyson. Pros – She never failed to make her smile and always seemed to know the right thing to say. Cons – Beth didn't want to smile, also – Ally was never a good listener. She had one of the personalities that just seemed to overpower a conversation. Number five, Josef. Pros – Dose of reality. And he'd let her talk. Cons – Dose of reality. A cold dose of reality after she was done talking. Plus, he was best friends with Mick and if she said something against him... Well, that certainly wouldn't go well.

Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number.

The voice on the other lined didn't seem surprised to be hearing from her again, "Hello Beth."

"Josef..." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip, unsure of the decision. Perhaps it would have been better to call Ally. "Ugh... I feel so pathetic right now."

Across town, Josef's lips quirked up slightly, "Really? And why's that?"

"I wanted to talk to someone, and I actually started weighing the pros and cons of each person."

Josef barked out a laugh, "I can understand why that would make you feel pathetic."

Beth frowned, but hearing his voice caused her spirit to lift up, "Can I come over?" The question surprised even herself, that was _not_ what she had planned on saying. "Um, what am I talking about? Why would you let me come over..." She mumbled to herself, "Never mind."

"I'll send a car over to get you. It should be there in twenty or so minutes. Nicolai I believe will be driving you." The slight intake of air coming from the other line led him to suspect that she was going to fight him on his decision. "Not up for discussion, Beth. I'll see you soon."

The line went dead in her hands. _Stupid_ _Vampires_.

HIS EYES STAYED a frosty blue up until the airport ticket counter before quickly changing them back. There was no real point to it, other than pure courtesy to those around him. Plus, mass hysteria, in an airport of all places, is a bad idea no matter what. He would, without a doubt, miss his plane.

"Name?" The woman, Laura Whitford according the nametag, asked him lightly.

"Mick St. John."

"Passport?" He handed her the card and her hands flew over the keyboard, "Yes. Two tickets to Charles de Gaulle International in Paris through JFK and Frankfurt International." She looked up and he gave her a curt nod, "Any bags?" Mick shook his head no. "Enjoy your trip, Mr. St. John." She handed him back his passport and the one newly printed ticket.

A slight nod of the head and a muttered, almost inaudible, "Thanks," was all she got in return.

PARIS WAS A beautiful city during the day. But that's not what Mick had been looking for. No, he spent his time in search of someone who could perhaps point him towards his dear brother-in-law's home.

So far his quest had accomplished nothing.

Not wanting Josef to be correct, and have it be that he was truly wasting his time, Mick doubled his efforts and finally, finally got a lead. It came in the form of a twenty something girl named Analise Deveaux who supposedly had been a gardener for Lance a few years ago.

"Will you take me there?" He asked slowly and clearly, as it seemed, she spoke little English, and he spoke little French.

The dark haired girl bit her lip, concentrating hard to translate it to English as best she could. "_Oui. _I show..." Analise furrowed her brow slightly, not able to come up with the words. She improvised and grabbed his hand, "_Oui_."

The walk was relatively peaceful, and Mick tried to fill the time with getting as much information from Analise as he could.

"How did you first find him?"

Analise bowed her head shamefully, "I was... How you say it... Call girl?" She made an unhappy face at that, "He had me garden. I quit call girl. Stayed working for Lance for two years. He fired me after. We should not talk." She walked a bit faster, in an attempt to get away from the questions.

Mick stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.

Twenty minutes later, Analise stopped in front of a large gate. She gestured to it, "Lance." Mick looked on in stupor at Lance's fortress. How the hell was he going to get in? He shook off his worries and smiled at Analise, thanking her profusely. She just smiled shyly in return and walked off. He watched her until she was out of sight, and then turned to the problem at hand – how to get in, how to find Coraline, and where he could find more of the cure.

Tackling the first part was easy, he merely jumped the fence and landed on the grass as softly as he could. However, that only took care of getting on the grounds. His biggest concern lay with getting inside the palace undetected.

He had been caught off guard. Too busy taking in the sight of where the key to the cure could be, to busy wondering how he wasn't going to get caught in this near suicidal attempt and he had let his guard down and it had come back to bite him in the ass.

Or, rather, the heart.

A wooden stake was plunged into him, and he went completely limp, crashing to the ground beneath him. Only by concentrating was he able to flicker his eyes to the side, and in doing so, noted the fact that there was a small, mouse like, girl hurrying off to the entrance to the palace. She smelled nothing of a vampire and Mick wanted to huff in indignation, he had gotten jumped by a _human_!

But, as he lay there paralyzed, children with stakes were the least of his worries.

He could smell him well before the other senses kicked in. The rotten stench of more than 400 years of decay rolled off of the old vampire like the waves on a beach. The soft crunching of gravel coming from the general direction of the palace was what Mick next sensed. The footsteps were hard, fast, and the movement was calculated. Although he could not directly see the man, the shadow loomed onto Mick's face. At last a sardonic chuckle was heard, followed soon by eight words spoken in a smooth, low voice.

"Welcome to the family was _not_ an invitation."

--

**Thoughts?**


	8. Part Two

Last chapter wasn't my greatest work ever, but the few reviews I got were positive so, yay

**Last chapter wasn't my greatest work ever, but the few reviews I got were positive so, yay? To those who did review – thank you oodles, for those who didn't – well, thanks for reading ;)**

**And I'm horrible for updating. I have no excuse other than AP and SAT studying. Yes, it's that time of year. Bleh. **

**This chapter delves deeper, is longer, and has the meat of the story in it. There are a heck of a lot of new characters in this chapter as well as a few characters from the last chapter that will be coming back in this one, and possibly the next, so keep a look out for them and what they are really like. A few are surprising. And it jumps back and forth a lot. Sorry about that. Yes, there is a reference to Beth's mother again, all will be explained in time.**

**SO here it is – Part 2 of ?**

**--**

**48 Hours earlier**

"So Els, Annie, guess who I just got paid a visit by?"

"Brad Pitt?" A girl with a slight Irish tinted voice asked.

A third, laughing, voice joined in, "My God Els... You really need to get over him. It's never going to happen. Ever."

The Irish girl sulked, although neither of the other two could see over the phone.

"No, it wasn't Brad Pitt, or anyone like that. He finally came."

Two gasps and the third girl, the one with a slight French accent said hopefully, "He's coming? He's really coming?"

"Yep. He should be there sometime soon. Girls, you know what to do. Good luck."

"Good luck," the other two chimed in. As they hung up, the Irish girl added under her breath, "We're all going to need it."

**Present Time**

"_Welcome to the family was not an invitation_."

If it was possible, Mick would have shuttered – that voice sent shivers down his spine.

"I see that you've found your way to my humble abode, dear brother in law." Lance casually tossed his arm to his left and the other to the right. "I'm rather surprised. Not many people know where it is. Vampires and humans alike. Obviously I've left a few loose ends. I'm going to have to take care of that." Lance kicked Mick slightly with his shoe, "What's that? You look like you have something to say. I'm all ears." There was silence except for the sound of water trickling in a fountain somewhere to their right, "Nothing? Alright then, let's get you inside. Maybe you'll be more receptive to talking there." Lance snapped his fingers once and two large men appeared. Vampire guards by the smell and look of them. "I need to speak with his _caretaker_." He put extra stress on the word caretaker. It was obvious that it wasn't good. "Take him inside. Chamber one." Lance smiled as he sauntered away, "Oh, and try not to hurt him too much. He needs to be in tip top shape for what we will have in store for him."

Mick felt the four strong arms lift him up, taking care to stay well away from the piece of wood in his chest. One wrong move from the two guards and he would be in excruciating pain, but that would be nothing compared to what the guards would go through. Lance ruled over them and Lance liked to keep his guests in relative safety – those who harmed them would be severely punished. The guillotine may have been outlawed years ago, but in the hidden castle nestled near the town of Soissons, the laws did not apply – it was as if time had stopped.

As the guards maneuvered him through the castle, Mick's eyes, the only part of his body he had control over, flickered around wildly, trying to memorize the path out if by chance he was able to escape. The corridors soon blended together, and Mick gave up quickly. He would have to try and smell his way out. If that was at all possible. His tracks could be covered, his scent taken out. He wouldn't put anything past Lance. That man was the devil incarnate.

Another dark, unfamiliar voice cut through his thought system, "It's alright boys, I'll take it from here." The two guards looked at each other and nodded. Setting Mick down lightly, they bowed and took their leave. Mick cursed his bad luck, this was yet another vampire. And a powerful one at that. He smelled old, just as old as Lance. A horrifying thought struck him – if this was one of the... "Mr St. John, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you. My dearest sister has said nothing but good things about you."

Of course. Just his luck. Another brother.

The man grabbed Mick's arms and drug him toward one of the damp gray walls, this was obviously chamber one, "Unfortunately, she hasn't been the most _trustworthy_ member of the family, so I hope that you'll excuse me for not believing her." Reaching up, the elder vampire grabbed a hand cuff linked to the wall and snapped it around Mick's wrist, another soon following suit. A sharp pierce of pain jolted through his body as each cuff was placed on. When Mick was thoroughly restrained the unknown man tentatively took out the stake. Mick groaned in agony, his wrists were hurting like hell as did the gaping hole in his chest. "The cuffs hurting you? I apologize. Unfortunately the blacksmiths never got the memo that silver is dangerous for a vampire. Oops." Mick's face of horror only spurred the vampire on more.

The man shuffled to the door, keeping a tight grin on his face, "Don't fret too much, there's only a trace. Not enough to poison, just enough to make you somewhat uncomfortable." He started to shut the door, the room fading into darkness, "By the way, my name is Raphael and I'm going to be taking care of you until Lance comes." The door was nearly closed, "If you live to see him again. Be seeing you." The laughter that followed permeated through the iron door and stomped to death the part of Mick that had hoped that perhaps he had a chance of getting out of here. If these vampires were so confident...

Mick shook his head to get that thought out, because, to him, confidence is not knowing all of the facts. Eyes full of defiance, he looked at the door and muttered to himself over and over again while systematically yanking at the chains (and in turn causing him to gasp in pain), "They will not win. They will not win. They will not win."

**LA**

HALFWAY ACROSS the world, the second eldest vampire on the west coast of the United States (falling short by 120 years to a German female currently residing Oregon), as well as the oldest in California, was pacing in his office, impatiently awaiting the arrival of his blonde human friend. Or as close to friend as she could be.

Josef didn't like keeping mortals close to him. To him, it was honestly just not worth it. They were as their name said – mortal. No sense in getting close if they could die in the blink of an eye. He kept his freshies in another wing of the house, calling them in only for a bite to eat, so he would never get attached. Plus they annoyed him incessantly with their chatter. With his cold front it amazed him as to how this one blonde could attain what several others had not – his affection. She set him off balance, and that was a hard thing to achieve. He admired her greatly. But she could never know that. Mick would eventually find out, and he'd never live that one down.

She had a distinct smell, something like lilacs, Mick, himself and of course, as all vampires pick up the quickest – her blood type. He never had the chance to taste her type of blood, and he planned on keeping it that way. Friends don't let friends drink friends. Unless said friend offered him her blood. Josef had no qualms about it in that case.

Her smell drifted into the room, and he could hear the sniffling as she came through the door. _Fuck._ Josef thought. _She's crying. I hate tears._ "Beth," he greeted, walking briskly to the door, ushering her in. "Glad to see you made it safe."

She offered a half smile and looked around his 'office' "Redecorating, I see."

Josef's eyes flashed in annoyance, "Yeah. I keep forgetting why I hate moving – the decorating. I swear, the designers get more and more insistent as the years go by." He shook his head and muttered quietly, "Mortals. Think they know everything about what I want. I could show them a piece or two."

Beth quirked an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"I have a piece or two things to tell you." He said quickly, "But only _after _you tell me what's wrong."

Beth's shoulders slumped, "Fine." She said dully, "But first, can I get something to drink? And before you ask, no, I will not drink blood. No matter how long I'm around you or Mick, no way." Josef smirked, it was obvious he was going to ask her that question – if only to get a mile out of her, and went to the small kitchenette in the corner, "Just a glass of water, please."

He returned shortly, vampire speed had its advantages, "So," he said, rolling his chair over to where she was seated on the couch, "Talk."

"Well, it started when Josh took a case that dealt with a gang of drug dealers. They weren't going to go after him, instead they were going after the person he cared most about – me."

Understandable. He would have done the same thing.

"He was going to drop the case, but I told him not to. I told him that these guys couldn't win. So he kept going, and it ended up with him being thrown into the trunk of a car." Josef was a little surprised, a trunk was just bad form. "Mick and I chased after him, it led us to a park, near the pond. Mick fought the two guys, but one shot Josh in the leg and the abdomen. Mick tried to save him, but it didn't work." Beth was openly crying, and Josef, having no idea what he should do was awkwardly patting her on the back, "I asked him to turn him... To turn him for me, but he wouldn't! He wouldn't save the man that I loved, saying that it wasn't living. He's right, and Josh probably wouldn't be happy to be a vampire... But still he's gone. Everyone is leaving me. Maureen's dead, Josh is dead, my mom is getting sick, Mick's gone." She growled slightly, "Mick... I hate Mick right now." She said the last part in a whisper, mainly to herself, but Josef could hear it loud and clear. This is what Mick was talking about. She wouldn't want to go save him because he wouldn't save her boyfriend – even if she wasn't in love with him anymore.

Steeling himself for more tears to come, and in the back of his mind reminding himself that this was his friend, and getting his shirt dry cleaned would be simple, Josef easily hoisted her up off of the couch and onto his lap. Beth immediately clutched onto his shirt and buried her head in the crook of his neck, tears pooling onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Beth. I'm so, so, sorry." Doing the only thing he could think of, he kept rubbing her back and whispering that he was here, and not going anywhere. He wouldn't leave her. Even if his life depended on it.

**LANCE'S FORTRESS**

MICK WAS STILL fighting against the silver laden handcuffs when the slight pitter patter of footsteps brought his attention to the door. He looked up, expecting Lance, Raphael, or one of the other crazy vampires inhabiting this fortress, but was surprised to see that it was the small mousy looking girl... The one who had staked him.

Short in stature, the brown haired girl topped off at about 5'3" and couldn't have weighed over 120 pounds. Mick silently berated himself for letting a human, much less a small person get the best of him. She confused him greatly – why was she working for Lance? With all of the experiences Mick had with this family, he had noticed a severe trend of dislike towards humans. They're were just cattle to these people.

In her hands she carried a tray with two glasses of blood in them. O-, not his favorite, but blood is blood. "Mr St. John?" The girl said quietly, a trace of Irish lit in her voice, "Lance requested that I give you these. But he also said that I couldn't uncuff you. I hope ya don't mind me feedin' ya." Mick shook his head, his fangs already out and the blue eyes trained upon the glasses. She took a few steps closer and set the tray down, "My name's Elsie, but me friends... And just about everyone else I guess... call me Els. You can call me that if you want." She had a glass in hand and gently moved it towards his mouth, "You're gunna need to drink carefully. Don't spill, because I can't get ye anymore than this. Lance keeps the blood locked up. Why, I don't know. It's not like me or any of the other humans are gunna be drinkin' it anytime soon and there are plenty of freshies around..."

He drank the first one without a problem, and as she bended down to put the first glass back on the tray, he, still in great pain despite the relief of the blood rushing through his system, gasped out, "Why are you here?"

She glanced up at him briefly before directing her gaze towards the crimson blood, "Lance's orders. He told Raphael who told me to feed ya. I'm supposed to take care of ya, check and make sure that ya ain't dyin', and give ya the blood. Now, drink up."

She brought the second glass to his lips, but against his body's wishes, he turned away. "No, why are you here? Why are you working for Lance? What the hell is going on?!"

"Just drink and I'll explain, m'kay?" Mick nodded, albeit reluctantly, and Elsie started to talk again. "In order of your questions, I've been workin' here for all me life. Me mum and her mum, all the way to me great, great grandma to the nth power, have been workin' here for their entire life. I dunno how it started, but I've been livin' and workin' here ever since I can remember. I can't explain what Lance wants with you, all I know is that you're going to be a very important player in a certain event that will be happenin' in the near future. Just... Hang on for a few more days, alright?" She took the glass away from him and grabbed the tray to head out of the room, "You need to stay alive Mr St. John. It's very important. To everyone's survival." She turned her head slightly and whispered so softly he had to strain to hear it, "You'll be needin' your rest. I suggest you best be gettin' to sleep."

Mick nodded numbly as he watched the door shut and lock itself again. _Event? Me helping?_ Mick was utterly bewildered, but the blood helped to clear the fogginess in his brain as well as heal the gaping hole in his chest. _If I'm so important... I'll stay for a bit. _Fidgeting until he was in a comfortable position, with the silver touching as little skin as possible, Mick took Elsie's advice and closed his eyes, only having the intent of resting his eyes but quickly fell into a deep sleep.

ELSIE CLOSED HER eyes and leaned her head back against the door. This whole secret thing wasn't going to work out too well for her. She liked to talk. Hopefully Raphael, Lance and all of the other workers would leave her alone for the most part, and she could orchestrate the plan simply from the inside.

But, alas, fate never seemed to be on her side. Walking to the kitchen to wash out the glasses she ran, literally, into none other than Raphael's right hand man, Viktor. "Watch where you're going, Davenport." He growled softly, "I haven't eaten yet, and Lance only says that only the family can't feed off of you. There's no mention of me in there." Elsie looked at him, fright clear in her eyes and he chuckled, "But you're not who I'm in the mood for. Plus, you were just around St. John, you reek of him." He looked down to the glasses, "Get those washed. And then meet me out in the garden. We have to discuss the plans soon." He pushed her towards the kitchen, "One hour, by the south fountain."

She gave him a mock curtsy and said sarcastically, "Until then."

"I'll be counting the minutes."

Viktor wasn't a bad one to run into, she mused as she added the soap to the glasses, he was on board with the plan and was helping her to get it rolling. Plus, he was funny and charming, neither trait found in the brothers (and sister, but Elsie had never met Coraline), but above all, trustworthy. A good guy, for a vampire at least.

After tackling the dishes, Elsie carefully snuck outside to the south garden to wait for Viktor and to make one very important call.

Two voices assaulted her seconds after she made the call, one French woman, and one Cali girl.

"Annie, Laura – Viktor and I are going to have a quick meeting to go over the game plan one last time. I told Mick that in about a week or so something is going to happen that he will be an important player in. Have you realized that this is finally going to happen?"

"Thank god." Laura said, "We've been waiting how many years?"

"Yeah, it's gotten ridiculous." Analise complained, "Waiting, and waiting, and waiting."

Elsie cut them off, "Shut up. At least you haven't had to be enslaved to the Devil and his advocates since the day you were born." The two were silent, "But in a week's time we won't have to worry about any of this ever again. We'll finally be free."

**--**

**Thoughts?**


End file.
